Mohammed Merah

Mohammed Merah (10 October 1988-22 March 2012) was an al-Qaeda sympathizer from France who killed 8 people in Toulouse and Montauban from 11 to 22 March 2012, including students at a Jewish school and French Army personnel. He claimed that he was motivated by Israel's war in Palestine and France's role in the Afghanistan War.

Biography
Mohammed Merah was born on 10 October 1988 in Toulouse, France to a family of Algerian origin. He had behavioral troubles as a child, and he was arrested many times for purse snatching and other petty crimes. In 2006, French intelligence believed that he was a member of the jihadist group Forsane Alliza, which was known to encourage French citizens to fight for jihad in Afghanistan. Merah entered Afghanistan from Pakistan at one time, and he was believed to live a double life, as he partied in nightclubs and consumed alcohol with friends that were unaware of his terrorist sympathies. He quit his job as a coachbuilder early in 2012 and decided to carry out murder sprees in southern France targeting Jews and the French Army, blaming them for the killing of Muslims. On 11 March, he killed a Muslim paratrooper in the French Army, and on 15 March he killed two more Muslim soldiers. On 19 March, he killed three children and wounded one at a Jewish school in Montauban, and he was later besieged in his apartment. He shot three policemen through his door, wounding them, and he was later shot in the head by a police sniper after jumping out of his window.